PaulNS asked why walnuts. I can't answer for others, but I picked it because it is a nut tree that will grow in a wide range of temperate climates. Nuts provide a rich source of nutrients and when the tree stops bearing, you can use the excellent wood. Almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans are other possible trees, but without the broad range of adaptability. I actually like pecans better. Here is my reasoing for the other choices. beans - love them, and a good protein source, easy to store without modern technology squash - reasonably good keepers, lots of uses, nutritious seeds sweet potatoes - I like them better than white potatoes, which would be my second choice here amaranth - never even tasted it, but is it the most complete protein of any grain, easy to grow, and pretty, too. On a high elevation site, quinoa would be a good substitute oats - oatmeal, oat cakes cabbage - brassicas are all very nutritious; this one is easy to store or preserve (sauerkraut) carrots - tasty, easy to store onions - as with carrots, and what is food without onions? tomatoes - anyone who has ever tasted a garden grown tomato know why I picked this one sunflowers - nutritious, tasty seeds, easy to grow blueberries - delicious (my favorite berry), exceptionally rich in antioxidants walnuts - see above Rosefolly

Thanks for the nice comments! The garden is my main hobby - and my passion :-) One of the reasons we bought this property was the existing ash, white pines, and young red oak that made a perfect setting for a garden. The rest was pretty much a blank slate, so it's come a long way in the past 14 years - and there's still more that needs doing... - thank goodness! (I'd be terribly bored if there were no changes required!) pm2- the clematis on the end of the garage is supposed to be Nike (I have a lot of clematises that appear to be not what the label said it was supposed to be!) The color is a bit odd this year - it's usually has a redder undertone - this is what it looked like last year: Perhaps the cooler temperatures this year affected the color....? As for the size and bushiness - I never bother cutting my group 3 clematies back hard. I just trim off any obviously winter-killed bits and trim them as necessary to neaten them up a bit. That seems to work for me to get vigorous bloom from them top to bottom! They get a small dose of clematis fertilizer in late May or early June. I suspect it'll be another two years at least before the clematises on the fence side of the swag will make it up to the chains. I had to replace a few that didn't make it through their first year in the ground (planted in late summer 2010). Thanks for the 'Golden Shadows' suggestion. That looks like a possibility. I actually have a Wolf Eyes dogwood a few feet to the left where it gets a bit more light and moisture through a break in the tree canopy: I'll have to think about whether the two different variegations would go together or not. Maybe the golden one could be shifted far enough to the right to give some visual separation while still screening the shed. thyme - my pruning technique for the heptacodium (and most things in the garden) is 'if a branch is in my way when I walk past, lop it off!' :-) Actually the heptacodium tree is an odd shape when viewed from the side. It is planted close to the old cedar clump so the heptacodium had no room to develop branches on the side closest to the cedar. If you look at it in the picture of the front garden from the road you can see that it sort of looks like half a tree! But if you look at it beside the bench in the picture through the iron abour, it looks perfectly normal! That is the way we most often see it so we don't particularly care about the odd look of it from the side.... I doubt that the heptacodium would snap unless perhaps it was in a very exposed place, so if yours has some shelter from wind, I wouldn't hesitate to prune it up a bit. The clematis swag started as a rose swag in an effort to try to control the New Dawn roses that used to grow on the south gate arbour. I loved the rose swags we saw in England and wanted to try one. It was very pretty; but we got tired of those wicked thorns! The Clematis montana on the arbour had started to climb on the swag so that gave us the idea of using clematis as a 'kinder and gentler' alternative to roses for the swag. So far it seems to be working out reasonably well. Copper pipes are handy to work with! Yes, the fence and gate is pipes threaded through a wooden frame. The gate just after we completed it in the garage: If I was doing it again, I'd have painted the wood the Bonsai green of the dark trim on the shed instead of the sage green we used. It is too much of a PITA to repaint it now! I don't treat the pipes at all - they rapidly turn brown so blend in to the plants and disappear. It'll be many years before the copper turns to verdigris green. It would be easy to make a trellis with copper pipes. The big clematis at the back of the garage is on a tripod I made with copper pipes threaded through wooden stretcher bars. The link below will take you to a thread in the clematis forum where I describe how it was built.... The iron arbour and tuteurs are also things I designed and had a local iron craftsman make for me: I like making things - but welding iron is beyond me! :-) Mario said 'if you can draw it, I can build it' - he was fun to work with but is retired now. Thanks mxk3 - green and serene is my major goal - for the backyard in particular. anitamo - the panel idea is a good one - I've given some thought to the possibility of doing something that would create a trompe-l'oeil arbour/gate implying the garden continues into the distance... I think it would take perhaps more work than I want to do at this point so I'll probably go with a tree/shrub if I can. But I still have a yen to do something trompe-l'oeil somewhere....! This post was edited by woodyoak on Sun, Jul 7, 13 at 12:06

I build things, and I am planting groundcovers, trees and shrubs so they don't totally fry trying to establish in summer. I am in San Jose, zone 15-also without rain but all winter long. I have been nursing my frost-hit citrus tree babies, and I am still harvesting raspberries from these crazy Italian bred ever-bearers! I built lovely wood cages to support these berries, five foot long rectangular boxes with cross members to support the canes, and stuck some finials on top of the uprights. Also filled out the under planting of alpine strawberries. I am making a grape arbor next weekend to span my driveway. I am installing solar powered light strings to give nighttime enjoyment- this garden is surrounding the kitchen door entry yard where all friends and neighbors sneak in to help us eat dinner, so I may as well make it pretty :) I am planting apple trees in a cordon along the driveway- opposite the berries- and considering chamomile and creeping thyme to carpet the ground- it's all wood chips from previous owner and I have to go slow as I want to install some stone pavers but only can afford two at a time . I am trying to make the garden areas look established and formal, my house turns 100 this year and is in a very visible urban neighborhood on a busy street so I can't have a tangle of dead tomatoes or blue tarp shade structure showing . My potager surrounds my driveway and side entrance and is very visible from the street. Hundreds of people walk by daily and I gotta show off! Anyhow, that's my winter, happy to read of others actions for more inspiration! Pea

Hi folks, Fortunately, I do not have (any longer) alot of the problems mentioned here, but my 6 year old Lab/Chow mix does like to pee on ANYTHING green. While I would like to plant SOMETHING in my new backyard, it really is HIS turf(deservingly so) and I am okay with that, so I do not sweat it too much. I have a very large covered patio that I can place numerous hanging baskets or standing urns,so that is My turf !!! However, if I did decide to plant in the yard (which would be nice)I am not willing to do the electric fence thing(my dog has become an absolute angel, he's my best friend and I couldn't bear the thought of him getting zapped) and I do not want to put up boarder fencing, so I was very fascinated to read about the citrus peels. Hmmmmmm....could it really be ???? I am dying to try !!! Specifically, I want to address "cseim" and find out where she got the info about plant toxicity. Just goes to show how much we can learn from one another. Not that I intended on putting it in the back, but as of today, that was one of the plants I had chosen for the front yard, which my dog does spend a little time. I didn't even consider checking toxicity on outdoor plants !!!! Thanks for the heads up !!! With his backyard "free roaming", any advice on curbing my dog's "watering" of all of my greenery ??? Also, pet friendly chemicals.